Salt Lake City
From WikTOPIA
What is the best way to approach the problem of getting UTOPIA in Salt Lake? It is suggested elsewhere that building support may be the best way to start. In this view, we would approach city officials when there was so much support (longing?) it would be hard to say no. At the least, it probably makes sense to wait for the new model to be announced. And in the meantime, how can we build that support?
Contents |
MetroConnect
Salt Lake does not participate in UTOPIA, but XMission is able to provide some fiber-optic service in the downtown area [1]:
- Your downtown Salt Lake City business can potentially save thousands in fiber-optic infrastructure. With XMission MetroConnect, you receive significantly reduced installation costs, hassle-free installation, and the finest technical service and support available.
- XMission MetroConnect allows Salt Lake City businesses to take advantage of fiber optics already installed in their building.
- MetroConnect uses a combination of ethernet and optical technologies to bring you bandwidth from 5 Mbps to 1 Gbps full-duplex (upload and download). With MetroConnect, you can even connect directly to your colocated server or to the XMission network.
If the library gets connected (is connected?), could it become a center for volunteer open source programmers to develop broadband applications for community education and development? That might result in some paradoxical situations, like the Salt Lake library furnishing Dewey Lectures live to Murray while Salt Lake residents can't watch. It might also be a wakeup call.
Utah Science Center
The Utah Science Center (USC) is part of The Leonardo, which will be located in the former Salt Lake library on Library Square when remodelling is completed. Meanwhile they are developing exhibits, programs, and activities, run the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair, and do outreach to support curriculum with The Leonardo on Wheels--Science.
"The Utah Science Center will plan, organize, host, and conduct a wide range of special workshops, courses, demonstrations, and competitions. Working closely with teachers and parents, most of these activities will aid and reinforce Utah's core science and mathematics curricula. The specific courses and programs are now being planned with local school districts and with the State Board of Education [2]."
UTOPIA connections with schools would support live internet video interaction between schools and the Center. This could add value to the Center's offerings in a number of ways:
1. Tour previews. When a school or class is going to visit the Center, a live interactive video tour could prepare students to get the most out of their trip. A lot of orientation and gawking could be gotten out of the way in advance, so the visit itself is more focused.
2. Video visits. Bussing students to the Center is costly in time and resources. While many experiences will need physical presence to be fully appreciated, many would probably be useful over the internet. This would be especially relevant when it comes to integrating the Center's offerings with curriculum modules. A class might make multiple short video visits, tied in timely fashion to specific topics.
3. Test prototypes. Students may learn even better when asked to try out an exhibit or activity that is being developed, and offer feedback. Nothing like participation to build interest. Testing could also be done to learn the best age groups for a given exhibit, or to develop variations in the exhibit appropriate to various levels. This should be more economical than bringing subjects to the Center.
4. Channel remote sites. There are probably a lot of places of scientific interest that are not easily accessible. How many field trips can any school afford? Sites of interest may not be able to accomodate class-size groups. And people at the back of a tour group may miss half the action. Imagine interactive internet visits to air traffic control, weather forcasting, labs at universities, water treatment and recycling plants, Evans & Sutherland, etc.
5. Virtual reality. Sandra and Matthew Blakeslee have written a book called "The body has a mind of its own: how body maps in your brain help you do (almost) everything better." In a radio interview, Sandra Blakeslee described experiments in computer-based virtual reality that allow a person to experience from the inside, in some sense, what it is like to be a crab. She also described setups that created out-of-body experience. For simulations like this, it would be most economical to run the software at the Center but send interface gear around to schools.
6. Collaborative research. An example will best explain this. Suppose a student at a UTOPIA school posts a proposal on a USC page devoted to creative science projects. She is interested in biogas. She has heard it has been very successful in Bangladesh. Aware of the energy crisis we face, she wonders about its application here. She proposes a study of biogas: international experience and local applications, both large and small scale. Other students with UTOPIA access sign up. When signup reaches a sufficient number, USC evaluates the proposal. If evaluation is favorable, the teachers of these students are consulted, to see if the project can be part of their science curriculum. If teachers buy in, the project is started. One teacher acts as advisor to the project, leaving other science teachers to be advisors to similar projects. A staff member becomes USC liason to the project. USC sets up a modest wiki devoted to the project, and creates a video conferencing protocol. The first video conference is held to organize and plan. USC would act primarily as a resource broker, making connections to teachers, scientists, laboratories, local waste managers, and people doing it in their back yards. If this sends tingles up your spine, you can probably imagine all the ways it could go from there.
Before The Leonardo is remodelled, and before Salt Lake gets fiber optics, there may be ways to test drive these visions. Find a school that is connected to UTOPIA. Find a spare room at that school. Start with a single exhibit that has potential for interactive internet use. Build a prototype and try it out in that school and all the other schools you can reach through UTOPIA. If it works, expand by finding rooms in those other schools.
All of this appears to be possible. If it is, two questions remain: is it practical, and is it desirable? An email was sent to the chair and director of USC with these suggestions. Here is his reply:
- Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. The Leonardo is committed to a very intensive and effective web/IT/virtual/simulation/ and related presence and activities. By copy of this message I am letting the IT/web team know of your email and ideas--hopefully one or more of them will start the dialog.
Elected Officials
Mayor
Ralph Becker
A Salt Lake Weekly article on UTOPIA in the mayoral race, from Pete Ashdown's point of view, had this to say:
"Candidate Ralph Becker recently made an impassioned speech about how the nation is falling behind in high-speed connections and how cities should have the authority to invest in this infrastructure, but maybe it should be by a vote of the people.
"With advocates like these, Ashdown doesn’t really need any detractors. But he’s got them anyway: Qwest, Comcast and the Utah Taxpayers Association." 06/072007
City Council
The City Council home page has links to agendas, minutes, and contact information. There are seven city council members. You can determine your district using this map.
On April 13, 2004, the council voted to make no financial pledge in connection with UTOPIA bonds. Four current members of the council voted on this motion. Their comments and postions were extracted from the minutes of that meeting and listed below. Their positions might have changed, and three members have been elected since then.
District 1
"Councilmember Christensen talked about experiences of people who had the courage and foresight to make difficult decisions and how that impacted his decision making process. He said he supported UTOPIA because he felt it was an important decision which would have a widespread impact on the community. He said he felt to walk away from this opportunity would be a mistake. He said every major infrastructure project in America had some government involvement whether it was a tax credit or a franchise. He said he hoped the City would not have to rely on bonds backed by sales tax but he felt the risk was worth it. He said he was not concerned about the 18 month exclusivity issue.
"Councilmember Christensen said he had talked to local officials throughout Utah . He said he was concerned about small cities which had initiated this process but had limited options and were unable to attract businesses. He said he was worried about security because nearly all phone calls and communications were handled through one central facility. He said the defense department developed internet protocol for that reason. He said he worried about insolvency because the City was heavily dependent on one provider.
"Councilmember Christensen said he wanted residents to have a choice. He said he was frustrated when one provider told him there were sections in his district where it did not make economic sense for them to install fiber optics. He said people probably would not move from their homes because of fiber but they might use it as a reason to purchase one. He said as the City looked at revitalizing neighborhoods fiber should be a key factor. He said he could not support the motion." (council minutes, 4/13/04) Note: the motion was to not support UTOPIA, so his vote was a vote in favor.
District 2
"Councilmember Turner said this was a complicated issue. He said he did not want to dwell on technical aspects, differences between large and small businesses, or take rates. He said he was concerned about the City getting involved in competition. He said many constituents he spoke with did not understand the entire concept/proposal. He said it was difficult to educate people in a short period of time. He said this was a financial issue and he was concerned about impact on the City’s tight budget. He said in several weeks the Council would be required to adopt a balanced budget. He said he was concerned about having to deduct an additional $4 million per year from the budget if UTOPIA did not succeed. He said he was concerned about impacts on services, residents, and jobs. He said the City needed to provide services for its citizens and he would vote no on UTOPIA." (council minutes, 4/13/04)
District 3
"Councilmember Jergensen said he appreciated the previous comments. He talked about constituent views and understanding of the internet. He said he felt there was an education component in the City which needed to be addressed. He said he was not convinced UTOPIA was the way to go. He thanked those who had taken time to discuss the pros and cons of the proposal. He said he had received an education on both sides of the issue.
"Councilmember Jergensen said the discussion of UTOPIA was based on the concept for high-speed broadband services in our communities. He said services needed to be available equally for both customers and providers. He said he felt that was the fundamental reason for UTOPIA. He said the City needed to maintain a leading edge in business and provide services to residents. He said UTOPIA suggested the way to accomplish that goal was to form a public and local partnership involving a number of Wasatch Front cities and towns.
"Councilmember Jergensen said cities and towns would work together to build, manage, and operate a fiber network that would be available to every home and allow equal access to providers. He said it would cost approximately $540 million to construction the network. He said initially the money would be available from bond proceeds without any requirement from participating cities to collateralize or guarantee repayment. He said the market indicated an interest rate of between 12%-13% so participating cities were asked to provide a backstop guarantee of approximately 39% of the bond proceeds. He said acceptance of the guarantee would drop the suggested interest rate from 12%-13% to 6%-7%.
"Councilmember Jergensen said this guarantee meant City residents would pay approximately $71 million to bond companies in the event of a default. He said UTOPIA suggested that a fiber network would be an economic development driver and would create a world-wide leadership role for Salt Lake City in terms of its involvement in broadband policy. He said UTOPIA proponents said the private sector would not provide services in a way which would meet customer/resident needs.
"Councilmember Jergensen said based on the service of certain providers in the past, the private sector would continue to be a roadblock to future service. He said the incumbent telecommunication industry suggested the City not be involved in what was traditionally an area of private sector involvement. He said the private sector claimed it already provided many of the services UTOPIA claimed it would provide. He said as the market expanded incumbent providers would expand to meet customer and provider requirements. He said he felt the concept of high-speed broadband service should be available to everyone and it was critical to the City. He said the City needed to accomplish this goal expeditiously without putting taxpayer money at risk. He said bonding was often used by the City and should not be an issue in this instance. He said a guarantee of bonds to provide interest buy down for a project described by the market as risky was not something a municipality should do.
"Councilmember Jergensen said with budget deficits, an additional requirement of $4.1 million annually for approximately 18 years would be an economic disaster for Salt Lake City . He said even the proposed guarantees which he understood were around 75%, only covered a total of 35% of the total guarantee requirement. He said that left City residents, with a total of approximately $49 million over a period of 18 years. He said this was not a worthwhile risk for City taxpayers.
"Councilmember Jergensen said he felt general availability of high-speed broadband would be absolutely necessary for future generations. He said the City had not seen any significant examples as to the economic benefit of this project. He said other cities costs and expenses were underestimated in feasibility studies. He said that resulted in significant problems for those municipalities. He said he did not believe the probability of economic development benefited the risk. He said in some cases the public sector did provide better infrastructure than the private sector. He said UTOPIA suggested that a guarantee was appropriate because the City should consider a fiber network as public infrastructure. He said services were considered public infrastructure if there were no other practical or cost effective means to provide service to the public.
"Councilmember Jergensen said the public sector came in where the private sector could not provide expected services to City residents. He said incumbent providers might not provide the service level some people wanted but it worked for many citizens. He said he was not convinced citizens did not want services proposed by UTOPIA. He said he felt the City needed to establish a broadband policy which allowed private and public partnerships to provide high-speed broadband services to anyone who wanted it. He said he did not believe UTOPIA was the right way to proceed. He said he would vote in favor of the motion not to guarantee bonds for UTOPIA. (council minutes, 4/13/04)
District 4
District 5
Jill Remington Love began serving in January, 2002. She is presently the council chair.
"Councilmember Love said she wanted to thank those who participated in the public process and provided expertise. She said she entered the process thinking technology would be outdated before bonds were paid off and concluded with a greater understanding of bandwidth and a certain skepticism of wireless communication. She said she felt the proposal would provide benefits to the community including medical technology and better communication between citizens. She said originally she agreed this was not an appropriate role for government but changed her mind.
"Councilmember Love said she believed UTOPIA would not be competing but would provide an open infrastructure for retail providers. She said through open infrastructure, customers would receive better service, reduced rates, and have more options. She said she was concerned about the potential risk to taxpayers. She said because she did not have complete confidence in UTOPIA’s business plans/projections and could not verify the information, she could not vote to back the bonds.
"Councilmember Love said the City would put taxpayers at risk without absolute certainty. She said it was difficult to vote against the proposal because of potential benefits to City residents. She said she was concerned by the Taxpayers Association’s campaign to scare City residents and the elderly. She said she hoped the Council would remain in UTOPIA as they reviewed the interlocal agreement in the next few weeks. She said she wanted to keep the dialogue going and work at getting better service for citizens. (council minutes, 4/13/04)
District 6
J. T. Martin began serving in January 2008.
District 7
Søren Simonsen began serving in January 2006.
